


Z is for Zanthe

by Psychodelikas



Series: The Alphabet of Dreams [27]
Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Finally!, meet the parent, thank you for reading!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 10:04:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14186499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psychodelikas/pseuds/Psychodelikas
Summary: But despite her usual bravado and lack of fear in face of the unknown, come the fifth of November, I had never seen Zane so scared in all my life.





	Z is for Zanthe

The remainder of summer went pass me with the speed of light. If I thought that the previous form of celebrating one’s twenty-fifth birthday was horrible to administrate, the new version was nearly impossible. The simple explanation that everything those poor souls had seen hadn’t been real was always the hardest. No matter in how many ways I tried to clarify it to them, nobody ever accepted it from the first try. Or the following three. Or even from the first day. But the fact that I too had gone through the exact same ordeal helped a lot. They could all tell I wasn’t lying when I told them that I knew exactly how they felt.

The castle changed as well in order to accommodate the new labyrinth. It had created a special Room of Recovery where the birthday boy or girl would spend the first day of their new year. It basically took them to their happy place as they began to process what they had lived on the other side. I had argued to Jared and Sarah that such a room was obligatory for the mental recovery. For myself, it had been extremely easy. I had Jared. I doubted it was like that for everyone else. They had both agreed and the castle had made the room available in two hours.

All too soon, autumn shadowed our doorstep then November was upon us. As well as my best friend in the whole wide world’s birthday on the fifth.

Speaking of whom, Zanthe’s relationship with James had only gotten better and better to the point where she had finally introduced him to her parents. I had wished from the bottom of my heart to have been a fly on the wall just so I could see the energivore trying very hard not to smile at the thought that he had made the poor souls lose consciousness so that he could sleep shamelessly with their only daughter in her own room. It hadn’t gone well at first because of the rather big age difference between them but I suspected James had cheated a bit in order to make Zane’s mother and father not mention the twelve-year gap between them. Secretly, I suspected it was that gap which made them get along so well to begin with!

College wise, things were not going as good as her personal life. James had made Zanthe promise that she would not neglect her studies because of the supernatural discovery she had made during the summer and she had kept her word. She hadn’t missed a single class but her grades and performance were both rather poor. I asked her about it and all she could tell me was that her interest wasn’t what it once was but she was okay with that. I wasn’t sure how okay the others were but I couldn’t quite argue for classes when the alternate Zane’s life kept flashing before my eyes. A part of me couldn’t shake the feeling that something in that alternate universe could come true and I truly hoped it was with Zane finding a place where she belonged. If that wasn’t college, then I would just have to come to terms with it.

But despite her usual bravado and lack of fear in face of the unknown, come the fifth of November, I had never seen Zane so scared in all my life.

“Is it true what they say now?” she asked quietly as we walked down the corridor.

“What do they say?” I asked genuinely curious.

“That it’s the worst acid trip you’ve ever had?”

I thought over that answer for a moment. “Yeah, I got nothing because it’s actually pretty accurate.”

Zane whimpered comically. “Great…”

I patted her on her shoulder. “It’s not that bad, not really,” I said reassuringly. “From what I’ve seen, this new type of transition has a lot to do with what you fear most for yourself. In my case, it was never having anything exciting or out of the ordinary in my life.”

“But that’s exactly what I fear too!”

“No, no, no. You’re afraid of not having anything _insane_ in _your_ life, there’s a difference.”

Zanthe regarded me with a blank look. “You do realize you’ve just made it worse for me, right?”

I chuckled against my will. “I’m sorry but you could be worrying for nothing. Maybe it won’t be so bad for you.”

“This is _me_ we’re talking about, Vala!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, you’re right. You’re screwed.”

We both laughed at that one then continued on in silence. I remembered there was one thing I really wanted to know.

“You know something? You never really told me how you and James met,” I told her.

“That’s because it was more like he literally found me from the get go,” Zane replied with a silly smile. “After I started coming regularly to the castle, James could feel my energy. He told me that it was unlike any human’s. He said he couldn’t help himself, he just _had_ to meet me.” Despite her situation, she smiled widely. “I initially thought he was an asshole because no way anyone that hot would want to talk with me.”

I laughed. “Well, I’m extremely happy he found you.”

“Not nearly as happy as I am!”

We both laughed at that then continued on our journey. “We’re here,” I announced after a little while.

“We’re where?” she asked confused.

I smiled at her then placed my palms on the cold bricks and pushed myself against it, exactly like Jared had done the very first time round.

Zane reacted exactly the way I did as the barrier was revealed.

“It’s okay,” I told her softly. “All you have to do is take one step and you’re there.”

For a moment, my best friend was silent. “Did you just broke on through to the other side?”

I laughed loudly at that, completely taken by surprise. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because I’m evil and you’re not,” she tried to say casually but I could read nervousness, even fear in her eyes as she analyzed the yellow barrier.

“Well, then, evil.” I took a step closer to her. “See you on the other side.”

She looked pleadingly at me. “Will you be there, Vala?”

“Of course, Zane,” I said strongly. “I will always be there with you and for you, no matter what happens.”

She looked like she would cry but compromised and hugged me tightly instead. She let go of me then bravely faced the barrier. With a deep breath, Zanthe Reinhart took one step and vanished into a pool of yellow magic.

I sighed long and hard, trying with all my being not to think into what she had just woken up to. I shook my head then left the corridor. It came as no surprise that James Walker greeted me at the doorstep.

“She’s in,” I answered the look in his eyes.

The energivore took a deep breath. “I’ll wait here until she’s back,” he declared. “They’re all waiting for you out on the terrace.”

“Call if you need anything,” I told him. I embraced him tightly. “She’s the strongest person I know, James. She’ll be just fine.”

He smiled. “Of course she will.” We parted on that optimistic note because anything else was pure torture.

I greeted Timo on my way to the terrace where I found Jared and Sarah entertaining a man who looked painfully familiar. When I reached the table, I recognized him and felt my heart pound against my chest.

“Valaria!” Jared exclaimed. He got up and quickly kissed me. “I want you to meet someone very special.” He turned to the table. “Father, this is the amazing woman I’ve been telling you about.” He smiled proudly at me. “Valaria Straits.”

None other than the King of the Goblins rose to his feet and graciously extended his hand to me. “I suppose I am Jareth Korrick in these parts,” he presented himself. He was a lot more imposing in person and I understood exactly where Jared got all of his annoying charms from. The king had cut his hair in our fashion and he was wearing a superb black suit over a plain white shirt, first two buttons undone. That simple yet stunning ensemble only increased his otherworldly beauty as well as make his mismatched eyes pop out like crazy. In the cold sun’s light, one looked like morning sky while the other like the first spring blades of grass.

I firmly shook his hand. “It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty.”

Jareth smiled and I was shocked at how much that made him look like his son. “I do believe the honor is mine, my lady. Come!” He indicated that we sit down. “We have much to catch up on.”

Jared held out my chair for me then caught up we did. I quickly discovered that Jareth had a sense of humor to rival that of Zane’s in dirty hints and rather insane comments. That only made me like him more. What I liked most about him were the moments when he would smile at Sarah or hold her hand the way Jared and I would. It spoke volumes about the state of their relationship and the trust and love they had for another.

But I also noticed that there were two extra chairs at our table. I hoped that those chairs were a sign the two guests I desperately wanted to join us would do so soon. As the day carried on and the sun began to set, I had no news of my best friend. It wasn’t like I didn’t appreciate being in the outstanding company of Jareth but Zane was my only friend in the world. What if something had gone horrible wrong and I wouldn’t see her for a very long time?

I shouldn’t have worried one bit because as soon as the clock struck nine, James and Zanthe just sat down at the table. I wanted to greet her but couldn’t say one word.

Zane had her eyes expanded to their fullest and was completely out of breath. “You might have undersold the other side there, Vala,” she mocked. “It’s not only an alternate reality, it’s like I’ve been brainwashed to believe nothing but shit!” Jareth’s eyebrows went up at that. “And! And! To make everything absolutely peachy, I spent five months trying to escape out of a mental institution. Five months! And then another week to get to the castle! Which also didn’t exist!” It was then that she noticed the rest of the people standing at the table. “And who are you?”

“I am the one you should be thanking with all your heart, my dear,” Jareth said smoothly.

Zane’s eye twitched. “I beg your pardon?”

“Well, if I hadn’t pushed my beloved son intro branching out the family business, you wouldn’t be as perfectly twisted as you are now,” the King of the Goblins declared. Both Sarah and James slowly put a hand over their faces.

Zane’s other eye twitched. “You know, you remind me of someone back from the institution,” she said.

“Someone no doubt highly intelligent and unnaturally charming,” Jareth said with a smile.

“Ha!” my crazy best friend cackled then leaned in over the table. “I dreamt of opening that son of a bitch up from his belly to his brains and feed him his own intestines night after night after insufferable night.”

If Sarah and James were shocked beyond measure, Jared had nothing but a huge grin from ear to ear at the look on his father’s face.

I smiled against my will. “So you mean to tell me,” I said slowly, “that in your alternate life, you were actually locked up in the loony bin?”

Zane took a deep breath and straightened her back. “Be very, _very_ careful what you say next, Valaria,” she warned me in a low voice. “Your life depends on it.”

I continued to smile as the rest of the table guests were oscillating between us. “Well, Zanthe,” I said as I rose to my feet. The named girl did the same. I smiled with all of my teeth at her. “Try as you might, you will never be able to shake this simple truth.” I placed my chair back in its place. Again, she did the same. My smile widened and I almost lost my cool. “I finally have undeniable proof you belong in a nut house!”

I had never run faster from death or laughed harder in my entire life.

_“I’LL FUCKING SHOW YOU WHAT A NUT HOUSE LOOKS LIKE, YOU CHEATING LITTLE SHIT!”_

_Ah! I love my life!_

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, my gosh! It's all done and you're still here? Thank you so very much!
> 
> I hope that my silly story has entertained you even a little bit. A huge and warm thank you with all of my heart! You are the best!


End file.
